Freedom Munitions & Xtreme Bullets file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

[DenverGP]

Bankruptcy filings have been submitted on June 8th, 2018 for Howell Munitions & Technology and multiple companies under the HMT umbrella.

The HMT umbrella covers a number of companies, all playing a different role in the manufacturing and sales process of their ammunition.

The following companies, all owned by HTM, have submitted separate Chapter 11 filings:

HOWELL MUNITIONS & TECHNOLOGY, INC.
FREEDOM MUNITIONS, LLC
HOWELL MACHINE, INC.
X-TREME BULLETS, INC.

https://www.outdoorhub.com/news/2018/06/11/freedom-munitions-parent-company-file-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy/

I wouldn't ever touch ammo from Freedom Munitions, but I have used X-treme's plated bullets for many of my reloads.

[CHA-LEE]

I have seen Freedom Munitions ammo blow up several guns over the years. Maybe this has finally caught up with them?

[izzy]

I have a bunch of x-treme projectiles for my reloads. Wonder if there will be any deals to be had here.

[CS1983]

Weren't they the company that had their factory burn down recently?

[crays]

Weren't they the company that had their factory burn down recently?

That was Ultramax.

[wctriumph]

I have used Freed Munitions in the past, never had a single issue with them other that the .45 ACP being very dirty. I stopped using them about three years ago when they could not seem to process an order correctly and ship within 6 weeks. I called them up and verbally cancelled the order and called my credit card company and listed them as blocked.

Hate to see a firearms related company go under but my experience leads me to believe that there was a lot of mismanagement within the company. That or too much drugs.

[DenverGP]

I have seen Freedom Munitions ammo blow up several guns over the years. Maybe this has finally caught up with them?

That was my first though, but seeing as the umbrella company and other related companies are all filing, seems like it's just a business thing. I don't buy the "firearm sales are weak" story.... background checks keep setting records and regardless of what the news wants people to think, I see more people shooting, including new/non-conservative shooters.

[Gman]

I've used Freedom Munitions without incident. This info fits with the all of the sales notices that I've been getting over the past several weeks.

Freedom Munitions is in BG's part of the world, so I'm not too sure about "too much drugs" being the problem. A lack of Ikea access, maybe.

[Bailey Guns]

This is the first I've heard of it and I know a lot of people that work there. I service some tanks at a few of the facilities and haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary. Little blurb in the local paper. That's too bad. A lot of people depend on those companies in this area.

I've shot a ton of Freedom Munitions ammo and never had any issues other than the .44 Mag is a little anemic and won't cycle my Ruger Carbine. But I haven't bought any of their ammo for years. Funny...it's made right here and I can buy it online but can't pick it up. It has to be shipped to my house.

[colorider]

Have had several squibs, underpowered and overpower 115gr 9mm. Also several 223 where the primers blow out. I’ve sent just as many rounds back to them as I have shot.

[Mr Spooky]

Glad. Freedom munitions way over pressure round broke my savage. Tried contacting them about it and never heard back.

[Shooter45]

That was my first though, but seeing as the umbrella company and other related companies are all filing, seems like it's just a business thing. I don't buy the "firearm sales are weak" story.... background checks keep setting records and regardless of what the news wants people to think, I see more people shooting, including new/non-conservative shooters.

I feel the exact same and don't believe the number match up on some shortage of buys when background checks are making records. I understand it's not the peak of the season such as election time but people are always buying guns, ammo, and accessories. I always stock up during times like this when there is no current threat on items. Buy it cheap stack it deep. I do hate to see any gun company go down but I would suspect poor management as the failure of any business.

[Honey Badger282.8]

That sucks, I've shot 2000 of their .40 reman and a few hundred of .223 reman without any issue.

[Rucker61]

I shot 400 rounds of their .308 without a problem, but their reman's .223 was underpowered to what their ballistics claimed.

[def90]

Shot a few thousand rounds of their 9mm back when they were one of the few companies that had it in stock after the big Sandy Hook panic. Never an issue, was all new manufacture 115 grain. Haven't ordered in a while because everyone pretty much has 9mm well stocked at low prices.

[Ridge]

I bought a bunch of their .45 ammo back when we had the big group buy here a few years ago. Stuff smelled nasty, but worked.

Later, I split a case of 9mm with a coworker and forum member. First round I fired had a split case and jammed my gun up until I could get a dowel down the barrel to get it loose. The rest of it went with a couple failures to fire, and the same urine smell.

[SideShow Bob]

I bought a bunch of their .45 ammo back when we had the big group buy here a few years ago. Stuff smelled nasty, but worked..

It wasn’t a group buy through this site, it was a link to a “group buy” offered through Gear Hog.
There were some members here and other sites that I am on that had very slow shipping and others getting shorted on their orders as in partially filled boxes. Proper number of boxes, but as many as 20 or more rounds missing out of a few boxes in their orders.
Never did hear if Freedom Munitions ever made their orders whole.

Luckily my order came within the quoted time and all the boxes were properly filled. But, with what I have been hearing on their quality, I am Leary of digging them out of the stash and firing them.

[Grant H.]

I've shot thousands of rounds of their stuff, and haven't had a failure yet.

No, they may not have the exact ballistics they claim.
No, they may not be the cleanest of rounds.

But, they have been inexpensive and available.

Sad to see them going under.

[kidicarus13]

I've shot 1000's of rounds of 9/40/223 reman without issue. Not the cleanest but also not the most expensive.

[O2HeN2]

I've been using x-treme bullets for awhile and I like them. In fact I was going to order a ton more in the next month or so. Bummer.

O2

[Irving]

Extreme Bullets were what I cut my reloading teeth on.

[ben4372]

I loaded a ton of their 9mm bullets, still have a bunch of .40/10mm bullets. I like them better than Berry's. Was scared of the complete ammo for the reasons many warned us about.

[colorider]

The problem is that they had a massive increase during the ammo shortage. Now people can get factory name brand ammo for less money than the Freedom reman stuff. They needed to adapt and didn’t. Their product was not worth the extra money, so consumers moved on. Simple business. They also go into other products such as optics and parts. Dumb.

[vossman]

We should set up a group buy.

[O2HeN2]

Danger Will Robinson, stay away form X-Treme bullets.

Chapter 11 reorgs often keep the doors open during the reorg process to avoid going further into debt, so on June 13th I placed a large order with them (~$1500) since I do like their bullets.

They just sat in the "Processing" state for ~3 weeks until July 2nd when I called them to find out WTF was going on. The woman I talked to apologized and said "I'll get this right over to shipping!"

Maybe she meant to say billing, not shipping, because a few moments later by phone dinged with the charge.

...and still they continued to sit in the "Processing" state for another 10 days, until today. I tried to call them earlier today and now the phone just rolls over to some extension, no one is answering.

Immediately called the bank that issued my Visa card and filed a fraud claim.

Called them back and left a message that I filed a fraud claim.

Now when I log in, my order is gone. So I assume SOMEONE is listening to all the messages, they just don't want to talk to anyone.

Hell of a way to run a business when you're trying to stay afloat!

O2

[Sawin]

^Damn... thanks for the heads up! I was sincerely contemplating making a similarly sized purchase before it was too late. Not anymore.

[jerrymrc]

I have used the extreme bullets before and never had an issue. Think I still have a few K of them. Never liked most of the re-manufactured ammo that is out there but it was not something I used since I load for most everything. Poor QC will do you in every time.

[MarkCO]

I was sponsored by Xtreme for several years. Knew this was coming for a little bit since I have friends who worked there, who all bailed. They also cut their sponsorships. Freedom, as the sister company was making ammo so fast it made heads spin, and guns blow up. I worked on 3 blown guns for acquaintances due to Freedom Ammo. A person in ownership, when we were talking about QC and gun damage literally said "we are making XX million a month, just buy them new guns."

Xtreme was formed when they bought Accura bullets, which was formerly West Coast bullets. I have been using that "family line" of bullets since the mid 1990s. Even though Xtreme is in Ch. 11, I have hope it will be bought by someone with a passion for the sport.

Accura bullets re-opened last year with new equipment, but the same high quality that WC and Xtreme (at least the first few years) had: https://accuraoutdoors.com/

[Squeeze]

I was sponsored by Xtreme for several years. Knew this was coming for a little bit since I have friends who worked there, who all bailed. They also cut their sponsorships. Freedom, as the sister company was making ammo so fast it made heads spin, and guns blow up. I worked on 3 blown guns for acquaintances due to Freedom Ammo. A person in ownership, when we were talking about QC and gun damage literally said "we are making XX million a month, just buy them new guns."

Xtreme was formed when they bought Accura bullets, which was formerly West Coast bullets. I have been using that "family line" of bullets since the mid 1990s. Even though Xtreme is in Ch. 11, I have hope it will be bought by someone with a passion for the sport.

Accura bullets re-opened last year with new equipment, but the same high quality that WC and Xtreme (at least the first few years) had: https://accuraoutdoors.com/

Thank you very much for this information. I looked at Accurate Outdoors website. Their bullets look great and the prices are reasonable. Gonna drop an order next payday.

[DenverGP]

I started wtih Xtreme bullets, these days I mostly use RMR's FMJ bullets, not much more than xtreme's plated.

Never touched their remanufactured rounds, especially after personally seeing two different people have squibs using freedom munitions rounds, and one blown up gun.